Springdale Cemetery approves monument fixes

The Springdale Cemetery Management Authority voted unanimously Tuesday to allow staff members to restore damaged monuments. Springdale has been working to repair the many fallen, tilted or leaning monuments on its grounds for more than a decade, said Bob Manning, the management authority chairman...

Springdale has been working to repair the many fallen, tilted or leaning monuments on its grounds for more than a decade, said Bob Manning, the management authority chairman. But the efforts got a new push when the cemetery's U.S. Marine Corps Monument collapsed during a Memorial Day ceremony in May.

Previously, Springdale staff were banned from resetting monuments. Some board members wondered whether staff had the necessary experience. But the decision to repeal the ban means the U.S. Marine Corps Monument will be restored much sooner, Manning said.

The board will work with Springdale's Monument Restoration Committee to develop a permanent policy going forward that will deal with concerns about staff expertise as well as who is responsible for paying to maintain monuments, many of which belong to families.

The board also voted to let members of Anshai Emeth Temple in Peoria place two markers containing small stones in the Mount Sinai section of Springdale Cemetery.

"It's a long-standing Jewish tradition to place stones on top of grave markers to remember loved ones," said Cecile Arquette, a member of Anshai Emeth's congregation.

Currently, visitors who want to leave a stone in memory pick up bits of gravel from the road or bring their own, so Anshai Emeth's rabbis suggested making it easier by adding two mailbox-like containers of stones, which members of the congregation will maintain, Arquette said.

She said she hopes to have them installed before Anshai Emeth's annual memorial service at Springdale during the Jewish High Holy Days in early September.

Lauren Zumbach can be reached at 686-3194 or lzumbach@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurenzumbach.